Irish regiment. , a caricature of lincoln writing the emancipation proclamation, the lincoln family by Francis Bicknell carpenter, victor nehligs painting, an episode of war, and some prison art. Lets look at the relationship between war and art, harold. Does war stimulate arts in america, and did art change the romantic image of war . Harold i think both. Good evening. Thanks for having me back. I think the great emphasis of american painting to the civil war was probably landscape painting. Portrait caricatures took on a martial air with all the military heroes who were portrayed. But it sent many to the field, like the soldier artists. Artists like Winslow Homer went to the field to do sketches for the weekly newspapers and evolved into very successful artists. But in terms of what it did to landscaping, it totally revolutionized the romantic attitude artists had toward this socalled american eden, the pristine landscape of the americas. The landscape was ravaged by gunfire, and the land was stained by blood. So it really changed the way this Great American art form was recorded during and after the war. Of course, the war kept artists busy for many years after the war, on commissions from military lodges, armories, and the united daughters of the confederacy and all these groups patrons that kept clamoring for pictures and statues. Valerie statues, as we know. Lets start with our first object or painting, and that is of the evening, and that is return of the 69th irish regiment. It was painted in 1862. You called this huge painting, seven by 11 feet, a masterpiece of 19th century public relations. Why . Harold well, it made great heroes of a military unit that fought pretty well, but in the end, unsuccessfully. , as did all the union troops of the battle of bull run. This was important for morale because it was the irish brigade of new york, a unit that the named the fighters of the 69th. But it was very important to the Union War Effort for germanamericans and irishamericans who had different political points of view were both recruited and both raised their own regiments. This one went off very early in the war in the spring of 1861, down to virginia, established itself in arlington heights, where they built fortifications for washington. It was very irish. The colonel, corcoran, had a minister, a catholic priest, sprinkle holy water on the first annon named in his honor. They marched on very proudly into war. Corcoran was irish born, 33 years old, a member of the finian brotherhood. Valerie we have a detail of corcoran. Harold it will not be him, so we should not get to it yet. Valerie oh, ok. [laughter] harold i should point out, this fellow was not corcoran. Because at the battle of bull run itself, where our irish regiment fought very bravely, he corcoran was captured by the confederates and was in prison for 40 years. When he was finally released, Abraham Lincoln gave him and other officers who had been imprisoned a state dinner in the white house. They were only for 90 days. Valerie he was there for a whole year in prison. Harold he was an exception. But after 90 days, the fighting 69th fought in the war. They came back, at least this back in a ship to battery park, and this is what they seemed to think. The fellow waving his hat was corcorans successor. Here he is getting a heroes a heros welcome. These portraits were painted of individually recognized people in the irishamerican community. Valerie the 69th saw combat in the battle of bull run in 1861 as part of a brigade that was actually commanded by william t. Sherman. What happened to them there . Well, they did ok. They did well. They were brave. But the battle of bull run was won by the union in the morning. The only problem was the afternoon came after the morning and the confederates charged back and won the day. So it was a huge embarrassment, especially when these guys did no more than participate in what turned out to be a real disaster. Valerie but they did receive quite an unexpected welcome when they arrived a week later. In manhattan a week later. What sort of things does louis lange depict in the painting . Harold you can see the crowd surging. Here, this is my favorite detail. This is an image of a newsboy selling, engraving the lithographs of colonel corcoran, who was back suffering in a prison camp. So he was a particular hero. But they came back and the brigade was smart enough and wealthy enough to commission this, as you point out humongous , painting. Valerie huge. Harold it was displayed. It was intended for their armory. After this scene, they all marched to the street on the Lower East Side and stacked their arms. We dont know where this ended up, but it had a great display at the gallery on 9th avenue. It won rave reviews from the critics. So it was pretty famous in its day. Valerie but it ultimately became a bit of an artistic curiosity. Why . Harold two years after this scene, the city erupted in draft riots, as we discussed in an earlier program, and so many irish and irishamericans participated that it became kind of politically incorrect to celebrate the early irishamerican contributions to the Union War Effort. This painting just deteriorated. Thank goodness louis lange donated it to the Historical Society 25 years after this scene. The great thing is that when it was finally discovered in storage, it was restored magnificently in time for the exhibition the civil war in 50 objects. Valerie absolutely. It was found in tatters. To pull itt together to make one gorgeous unit. You can come see it when we reopen. Lets move now to our next painting object, and that is the lincoln family in 1861 by Francis Bicknell carpenter. This is in blackandwhite, so it had a photographic quality to it, even though it is oil and canvas. But there were no photographs of the lincoln family all together. Why . Harold we really dont know, but mary lincoln did not like to be photographed with her husband. She was so much shorter and did she thought she would look the dolllike and did not like the comparison between them. Valerie she was a little bit fatter, too. [laughter] harold not in this picture, and i will explain that. This is a riff on the famous photograph. As you say, this was painted in black and white for a very simple reason, because it was to serve as a model for popular print. Carpenter did not bother to add color. Because it would not have been reproduced. Valerie it is interesting because there is such public days and actually in the last century of artistic depictions of the first family, but not in this time and place. That only sort of became more the thing after lincolns assassination. But in any case, that is where this painting comes in. Tell us more about this and the artist. Harold carpenter was from upstate new york. Homer, new york, near syracuse. He had a gallery in new york city. He decided he wanted to paint the First Reading of the emancipation proclamation before the cabinet, and he got letters of introduction. He went to the white house. Pretty open season. Lincoln liked him. He let him work there for six months. But while he was there, he made sketches of the family and he commissioned the famous photograph of lincoln looking at this photograph album that looked very much like a bible, and no one ever corrected that impression. In 1865, lincoln of course dies. Carpenter is still working on his emancipation engraving. The painting is done. And he is pretty well known. So he goes to a new york engraver, j. C. Derby, and he works with another publisher to do a lincoln family. It cost 500. A pretty good feet. Fee. But he decides to write to mary lincoln, who is his buddy at this point. She suggests all the other models, a picture of robert, a who was then at harvard a , picture of willie, who died in 1862. He is the middle Child Holding the sword. That is why it is very specific, the family of 1961. Like carpenter suggested of mary, she suggested one that was painted before she gained weight. She is the one who chose this very sort of flattering image. It was produced as the popular print of the lincoln family. Not only were they never photographed together, they were seldom together. Robert was at harvard, at harvard law. He wrote he never had 10 minutes alone with his father during the entire war. Willie died 11 months into the presidency. And mary said she was fortunate if lincoln came to the bedroom to talk about the events of the day at 11 00 at night. The civil war drove them apart. It did not bring them together. This picture was meant to say they were together, to reassure the public that lincoln had a happy and United Family life. Valerie the painter really got the credit he deserved for knitting that picture together. Harold the ultimate indignity was that he did get 500 for it, but he claimed he only sold the intellectual property. He still owned the physical canvas. However, the studio went bankrupt eventually and sold it to a new yorker named warren crane. Carpenter was not happy. Crane had him come to his house and see it, but he did not return it, and it was crane who gave it to the Historical Society years later. He said he was going to add color. That was his ploy to get it back. But he didnt, and he didnt. Valerie [laughter] lets move on to our next artistic work. This is an etching by adalbert johann volck of the emancipation proclamation in 1863. We are in the middle of the second year of the civil war. It is getting difficult for the confederacy to circulate artwork of battlefield triumphs. That is for one practical reason. Most of the ablebodied artists were fighting in the war. As soldiers. Actually, this is an interesting thing to contemplate right now as cultural monuments to the confederacy are being pulled down. There were none that were done at the time of the civil war, no artistic works. Tell us about the artist who created this etching. Harold he is also a hyphenated american. Born in bavaria. Unlike most of the germans who came to the United States after the revolutions of 1848 failed in europe, he was an archconservative and a racist. Not an antislavery man. He settled in baltimore, and the surroundings and the environment make the man, in a way. He was a dentist by trade and was obviously a very gifted draftsman. And he made these series of antiunion, proconfederate etchings throughout the civil war and published them secretly with a fake london copyright. Baltimore was occupied quite early in the war by the union, and artists like him, printmakers were shut down who sympathized with the confederacy. So he was operating in total secret. He was not influential at the time, but venomous towards lincoln. Look at this. Portrayedpenter, who lincoln almost as a divine presence, this lincoln is writing the emancipation proclamation from an inkwell that is held by satan, and he has his foot on the holy bible to do it. Look at the devils head at the cloves, the devils , liquor on thele cabinet. If he wasnt influenced by the devil, he had to be drunk. There is a picture of john brown, so john brown is the evil influence over lincoln. There is a painting of a slave rebellion in haiti. Overn unusual figure lincoln is a statuette of columbia, a symbol of the country. Pulled over his head is the kind of scottish tam lincoln allegedly wore to escape notice to baltimore. It is an inside joke. Not a favorable proclamation. Valerie not at all. This is part of a series called gadgets from the civil war in america. Some of the other images in that series also depict something fake newsy, i think, in a way. Harold yeah. Cave life in vicksburg. I think we showed that one. Southern women melting church bells to make cannons for their holy cause. Lots of antilincoln stuff. Lincoln sneaking into baltimore. Valerie it is interesting you should mention lincoln and volck, because apparently he had a change of heart after lincolns assassination. Or did he . Harold so he said. He said he always regretted he was mean to that lovely man. He painted. He went on to paint, but his paintings were of robert e. Lee, and lee mourning stonewall jackson. He did confederate inspired paintings. He never did a lincoln painting that showed any kind of sense of having regretted what he did. Valerie yeah. Lets move on to our next image. This is also a large painting, not quite as large as return of the 69th. This is called an episode of war the calvary charge of lt. Henry hidden by an artist named victor nehlig. Harold we called it a Hidden Treasure in the book. I know that is kind of a pun i have to keep apologizing for. Valerie that is cute. [laughter] but anyway, it is a dramatic scene. We dont want to minimize it. Henry was a useful, wellconnected new yorker. Tell us a bit about him and this particular episode of war. Harold he was a very young man, 23 years old when he joined company h of the first new york cavalry. Yes, there were calvary units in from new york. A brave young guy. Say hisis i should family were very wealthy shipbuilders. The webb family. He was new york mercantile royalty, to be sure. He led his men into virginia, and one day at a place called sangster station, he saw an unguarded exposed flank of general Joe Johnstons confederate army, and he let his d his cavalry and broke through and created havoc and really pushed them back. Unfortunately in the midst of the charge, and that is what this scene is supposed to head is not held upright, and that is because the has just been shot through the neck and died. Valerie it is kind of remarkable. It does not diminish the dramatic nature of the canvas, but it was a relatively insecure obscure incident even in its own time. Why was it obscure . Harold first of all this little , skirmish was not a major battle. Second of all, there were two major events going on the same day, the merrimack battle and the battle of pea ridge in the west. Which were much more important and more well covered by the media. This could have led to a battle, but johnsons army just waited ed and just waited for another day. As you mentioned when we started, the family was wealthy. They wanted to remember their relatives. The original title of this painting was much more dramatic. The gallant charge of lieutenant harry hidden. I dont know why they changed it to an episode of war. It was commissioned by the family and displayed in regiments for years. You know he is considered i this, because this is 1862, he is considered the first Union Cavalry officer to die during the war. I am not sure that is possible, but we will go with it for now. If we could think back to colonel corcoran again. It is ok to make this point now. He got out of prison, he recovered, he went back into the service, and ignominiously he was killed when his horse fell on him. What the battle of bull run could not due to colonel corcoran. I do not like horses. I know lots of people do. They petrify me. So all power to henry hidden for doing all this. Valerie yes, that is henry hiddens claim to fame, the first Union Cavalry officer killed in action. Sort of like our guy last week. Harold yes. [laughter] valerie he gets it. Harold he gets the honor. Valerie you do mention this painting has a new light on the harsh realities of the war. What are some of the details that stand out for you . Harold well, the first images of war were pretty bucolic, even though the landscape is turning red, as others have put it. But this is really handtohand combat. It is swords, bayonets, rifles, confusion. It is trees shorn of leaves. It is not romantic at all. It is tough, and it is scary. Youve got these foreignborn artists who are really revising the idea of war. So far, i think we have done all except for carpenter, they are all foreignborn artists. Of course, america was kind of speaking with a foreign accent at the time anyway. They say 40 of the union army spoke with some kind of a foreign accent, which is remarkable. Valerie it is remarkable. We are down to our last five of five artworks or artistic impressions of war. This is a Point Lookout sketch. Watercolor drawings by john jacob omenhausser. During the four years of the civil war, men were taken prisoner. A majority of these were in prison for the duration of the war. For those men who were Strong Enough to endure the starvation and exposure, sickness, and allaround hellish circumstances, we have learned that the creativity helped them survive. The artist of these sketches was one such soldier. Tell us a bit about him. We know is i am assuming he was foreignborn, but certainly germanamerican in some way. He was a folk artist and a candy maker before the war. A confectionery, he was called. Austrian by descent, settled in baltimore, got up early and saw some action in the first regiment. He survived in the war for some time, but it caught up with him in 1864 and he was captured at petersburg and imprisoned at a hot and steamy camp on the southern shore of maryland called Point Lookout, where at its peak 20,000 men were kept in pretty tough circumstances in 23 acres. It was not really as crowded as andersonville or elmira, but a pretty tough situation. By the way, prisoners were exchanged at the beginning of the war, but by 1864, general grant said no more exchanges because imprisoned soldiers hurt the confederate side more than ours because we can always replenish. But omenhausser was gifted. I think he probably sold some of these to fellow prisoners because we have evidence some of them wrote home saying there is a very clever artist here. He is a folk artist at best. He was captured by a black soldier, by the way. What makes this piece remarkable is he shows africanamerican soldiers guarding him, which for a southerner must have been a deep kind of humiliation, which we know is nice retribution. Valerie i think we actually have that in the next slide. It is interesting because he painted so many artworks and it is such a huge body of work that it was thought of the work of more than one person, but it seems to just be his. At the new york Historical Society, the Art Collection has a portfolio for watercolors. Here, just kind of a selection of them. What did they depict in general . There are so many. Harold well, it depicts an africanamerican guard, selling extras to a prisoner, maybe a potato or an extra ration. On the left, it shows a group of ladies who were touring the camp as if it was a tourist attraction, and you have a ly bare uninhibited chested, washing his shirt which is bug invested, and he is saying to the ladies, why is this camp so lousy . Wh